Criminal Law News

This is a horrifying story to all parents of small children.

As anyone with young kids can tell you, babies and toddlers often run around without any clothes on.  At times, kids seem like wild animals – rejecting clothes at any opportunity.  Most child development specialists advise that parents just allow their kids their freedom for a few years.  Being overly strict about clothes and nudity can encourage kids to be overly sensitive about their physical selves.

And yet, it is exactly this sort of “Let Them Run Free” mentality that caused an Arizona couple to almost lose their children.

As widely reported in the news this week, the Demaree family of Peoria, Arizona has just finished a harrowing criminal case where the parents of three young girls were accused of Child Pornography.  The family had gone on vacation and during the vacation had snapped some photos of their three daughters playing together during bath time.  When they dropped their memory card off at Walmart to have prints made, an over-eager Walmart employee called to cops to report the photos as Child Pornography.

If the story ended here, it would be annoying but tolerable.  But this is only the beginning.

The police brought in Child Protective Services which then ordered a search of the Demaree’s home.  The search turned up home videos, which in some cases also included the girls playing without wearing clothes.  However, just as with the photos, this naked playtime was clearly innocent an not provocative.  Yet Child Services did not see it that way.  They ordered that the children be taken from their parents and put into foster care.  Furthermore, the Demaree parents were added to the list of Sex Offenders in their state and put on trial for Child Pornography.

Thankfully a judge eventually was shown the “evidence” and recognized it for what it was  — innocent.  But this did not happen until the kids were in foster care for one month and the family had racked up $75,000 in legal bills.

When most of us think of people accused of Child Pornography, we imagine the lowest of the low of humanity.  We immediately assume guilt and have little sympathy for the ogres who would take part in such a vile slice of society.  But when you hear of a case like this one, you have to wonder how many of those accused are not really guilty.

One thing that is for certain is that when anyone is  ever are faced with charges like these, they need the help of an experienced Sex Crimes Defense Attorney.   As unfair as these accusations are , these are not times to take chances.  You need attorneys with experience and the ability to convince a judge or jury (or even a police department) that you are not a pedophile.

FYI, now that the Demarees’s are out of legal trouble, they are suing Walmart and the Police Deparment that made the accusations.